offered to their protector, prayers which indicate very clearly that the honesty of the fraternity was not rated high by their countrymen. 1-6. These lines so closely resemble the words of Horace at the commencement of his Ode to Mercury (Od. 1. 10), that we can scarcely believe the coincidence accidental. 'Mercuri, facunde nepos Atlantis, Qui feros cultus hominum recentum Te canam, magni Iovis et Deorum I, 2. Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, one of the Atlantides, who gave him birth on the summit of the Arcadian Cyllene. We have already had occasion to quote Virg. Ae. 8. 138 'Vobis Mercurius pater est, quem candida Maia 2. Pleias una. The Pleiads were the seven daughters of Atlas. At the beginning of this book of the Fasti v. 105, Mercurius is said to have bestowed upon the month the name of his mother Maia. 'At tu materno donasti nomine mensem, Nec pietas haec prima tua est: septena putaris, again in v. 447 he is addressed as уνуопоμπós, or conductor of spirits to Hades. 'Pleiade nate, mone, virga venerande potenti: Saepe tibi Stygii regia visa Iovis. Venit adoratus Caducifer'... 4. Arbiter, i. q. 'interpres, μeoirηs, is, per quem transigitur aliquid inter duos. Livy 2. 33 66 Interpreti arbitroque concordiae civium" (C.). It refers particularly to his office as herald. 5. Laete lyrae pulsu. Hermes upon the day of his Homeric Hymn to the god. The invention of the lyre by birth, is fully described in the Hence his connection with poets, who from him are styled 'Mercuriales viri.' Hor. Od. 2. 17, 29. See also Od. 2. 7, 13. Nitida. This epithet refers to the shining skin of the athletes, who were always rubbed over with oil before they commenced their exercises. Compare Ov. Her. 19. 11 'Aut fora vos retinent, aut unctae dona palaestrae,' and Lucan 9. 661, who speaks of Mercury as 'Arcados auctoris citharae liquidaeque palaestrae.' 6. Culte...loqui, 'to speak with polished grace.' 7. Templa, &c. Livy 2. 21 (498 B.C.) Aedes Mercurii dedicata est Idibus Maiis;' and again 2. 27 'Certamen consulibus inciderat uter dedicaret Mercurii aedem. Senatus a se rem ad populum reiecit: utri eorum dedicatio iussu populi data esset, eum praeesse annonae, mercatorum collegium instituere.' The members of the corporation of merchants were called 'Mercuriales,' as we learn from Cic. Q. Fr. 2. 5 Mercuriales Furium de collegio eiecerunt.' Capenae. The 'Porta Capena' was the gate at which the Via Appia, the great south road, commenced. Its site is now marked by the Porta S. Sebastiano. 12. Numen habet. of purifying, &c. Possesses a divine virtue-the power 13. Incinctus tunicas. Cingulo; e quo marsupium auri monetalis propendebat. Hic vetus mercatorum habitus' Neapolis. Quam ferat, which he intends to carry away for the purpose of sprinkling his wares. 18. Preces. The terms of the prayer, and the expression 'solita fallere voce,' indicate very clearly that the honesty of the Roman shopkeepers was not rated high by their countrymen. The whole of the passage seems to be imitated from Hor. Ep. 1. 16, 57 'Vir bonus, omne forum quem spectat et omne tribunal, Quandocumque Deos vel porco vel bove placat, Iane pater, clare, clare quum dixit, Apollo, 22. Non audituri, 'who will turn a deaf ear.' The future participle here expresses the hope of the merchant. 23. Prudens, 'designedly.' 25. Abstulerint...Noti. Compare Hor. Od. 1. 26, 1 and Tibull. I. 4, 21 'Nec iurare time: Veneris periuria venti Et pereant, i. e. 'non puniantur.' The reading 'pateant' is well worthy of attention, 'let new opportunities of falsehood be granted with the coming day.' We shall thus avoid the repetition of the sentiment expressed in lines 19, 20. 28. Verba dedisse. The phrase 'dare verba' is very common in the comic writers. It always signifies 'to cheat,' properly, with fair words. 30. Ortygias boves. The cows of Apollo. Ortygia was one of the many names of Delos, the birthplace of the god. This exploit of Mercury is narrated at great length in the Homeric Hymn, and in Ovid, Met. 2. 676. Horace in the Ode already quoted, alludes to the same tale, 'Te, boves olim nisi reddidisses Per dolum amotas, puerum minaci 29. FLORA. FAS. V. 183. THE worship of Flora, the Goddess of Blossoms, may be said to have been coeval with the city itself, since we are told that she was an ancient Sabine goddess, established at Rome by Titus Tatius, the colleague of Romulus, and that a peculiar priest or flamen was assigned to her by Numa1. The games, 1 Varro L. L. 5. 10; 7. 3. 15 however, called 'Floralia,' were not instituted until 238 B.C.', and were celebrated, it would seem, in the Circus Florae, which was situated at the foot of the Quirinal. There were also dramatic exhibitions. The festival commenced on IV. Kal. Mai. (28th of April), and continued until the 1st of May, inclusive. 1-4. Compare the conclusion of the fourth book of the Fasti, devoted to the month of April, v. 945 'Mille venit variis florum Dea nexa coronis ; Scena ioci morem liberioris habet. Exit et in Maias Sacrum Florale Kalendas: Tunc repetam: nunc me grandius urget opus.' 1. Ludis...iocosis, alluding to the peculiar licentiousness which characterised the games of Flora. 2. Partes, when construed with a personal or possessive pronoun, usually signifies the office, duty, or occupation of the person to whom the pronoun applies, a meaning derived from the dramatic use of 'partes' in the sense of the part or character assigned to an actor. Thus Cicero Ep. ad Attic. 7. ep. ult. Sin erit bellum partes meae non desiderabuntur;' and again Ep. Fam. 11. 5 Tuum est hoc munus, tuae partes.' In the passage before us, however, 'tuas partes' must mean either 'my duty towards you,' or 'the portion of my work which belongs to you.' The various reading 'laudes' is manifestly a gloss. 7. Circus in hunc exit, sc. 'mensem.' The games are continued on to this month. They do not conclude with April. Clamataque palma, signifies simply the rewards bestowed on favourite actors in the shape of applause. 8. 'Let my song be an offering to thee along with the shows of the Circus.' Munus, strictly, is applicable to gladiatorial exhibitions only. 13, 14. Ovid is determined to make Flora a Grecian Nymph, and therefore derives her name from xλwpòs, green. Campi felicis. Ovid seems here to allude not to the Elysian Plain of Homer (Ηλύσιον πεδιόν), but to the μακάρων voo, Islands of the Blest, described by Hesiod as the happy abode of the champions of the heroic age. Op. et Dies, 169. 1 Pliny H. N. 18. 29, referred to above, p. 229. Pindar, in his second Olympic Ode, describes the Island of the Blest in a magnificent strain of glowing poetry, and Horace has availed himself of the same idea 'Nos manet Oceanus circumvagus, arva, beata Reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis, Et imputata floret usque vinea,' &c. Epod. 16. 41. 17, 18. Flora modestly declines to expatiate on her own beauty, but bids her auditor draw his conclusion from the fact that it gained her mother a god for a son-in-law. 19, 20. She gives an account of her first meeting with Zephyrus, who proved a rough wooer. 21, 22. Boreas seized and bore away Orithyia, daughter of Erectheus king of Attica. The principal authorities are Appolonius Rhod. 1. 211, and Scholiast. Ov. Met. 6.678. See also notes of Heyne upon Apollodorus 3. 15, 2. 24. Querela. 'Douza observat, allusisse poetam ad formulam in epitaphiis obviam VIXERVNT SINE QVERELA' (G.). 25, 26. In these two lines Flora describes the happiness of her own abode. 'I enjoy perpetual spring; for me each season beams with beauty; for me the trees are ever green with foliage; for me the earth is ever clothed with herbage.' The reading 'veri,' instead of 'semper,' which is a conj. of Heinsius (two MSS. have 'vere'), is well worthy of attention. 27. Dotalibus...agris. 'Dotalis' is the epithet applied to anything which a wife brings to her husband as a marriage portion. So in Met. 14. 459, it is said of Diomede, .Ille quidem sub Iapyge maxima Dauno Moenia condiderat, dotaliaque arva tenebat,' and so 'Dotales aedes' in Plaut. Mil. Glor. 4. 4, 30. 30. Arbitrium, i. e. ' power,' 'dominion.' 31. Digestos. See note on 9. 1. Horae. The Seasons. These allegorical personages, who are mentioned by Homer 1, are by Hesiod called the daughters of Zeus and Themis, three in number, Evvouia, Aikŋ, and blooming Elpývn, significant names, Order,' 'Justice,' 'Peace.' 33. Charites. The Graces also are noticed by Homer. Hesiod makes them daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, three 1 II. 5. 749; 8. 393; 21.450. |